Monday, March 19, 2018

Review: Raw Power (11th Hour #1) by Jackie Ashenden #HelenReviews

Okay, let me take a breath here! What a story! I
am gobsmacked! This one is powerfully emotional and so very sensual.
The static between the hero and heroine could light up New York. Jack
Knight is scarred physically and emotionally. Callie Hawthorne is so
emotionally scarred it is a wonder she can get herself out of bed in
the mornings. So what brings these two together and makes them fall in
love? Jack needs a job, and Callie supposedly needs protection. I can
highly recommend this book first in the 11th Hour series woohoo.

Callie should be a happy, healthy twenty-two-year-old. She comes from a
well to do family where her father is a senator, and they appear to be
a happy family on the surface. However, underneath lies a family
controlled by an abusive father and husband. Callie learns to smile and
do as her father wants, but she also loves music. When she can, she
escapes enjoying the nicer things in life she spots Jack across a dance
floor. He is scarred and gorgeous, and she soon realizes that he wants
her. He is her new 24/7 bodyguard assigned by her father.

Jack was in the Marines until he was badly injured and discharged. It
has taken him years to heal, and now he wants a job. Not some pen
pushing job either. He is now in San Diego and applying to work for
11th Hour, an unacknowledged company run by a very wealthy man. They
are not so legal and are mostly ex-military, but for Jack to get this
job he needs to prove himself and the first job is the protection of a
wealthy senator’s daughter. From their first meeting, Jack is feeling
emotions long buried, and he sees in her things that he has kept from
his past as well.

I loved this story from page one. So many emotions are flying off the
pages. It is compelling and mind-boggling what both Jack and Callie
have gone through. They are both from families where abuse was the
norm, and Callie has never known gentleness or love. And when they come
together, their joining is dominant and rough, but both are stunned by
the heat and strength that they get from it. When Jack learns the truth
about Callie, he kidnaps her, and all hell breaks out with her father
and 11th Hour. Even as their love grows, Jack denies it at first. He is
convinced he is no good for Callie, but in the end, it takes Callie,
her music and some help from 11th Hour employees for them to find
happiness. It’s a beautiful HEA. I look forward to more in this series.
Ms Ashenden, you rock a fabulous story.

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About Me

I love all things beauty and makeup, reading and books, and also have a keen interest in cooking and food. Combined with a husband who loves wine, we write a number of blogs that align with our interests. I have two blogs: Deanna's World which focuses on all things books and beauty, and Daz In The Kitchen which is my cooking and food blog. I hope you visit and stay around.

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